Wild Living ... No Renting, No Buying, No Selling ...

fc123

I will confess I am getting into pics in a big way and , having cracked photo bucket, am going to start taking a camera everywhere now and be really annoying.:o

It's only cos I have been trying to come to a webshop solution that I can do myself rather than pay £6 per edited pic.
Do you know how I can make the background transparent or plain white? No one will tell me except that I need £900 worth of photoshop software.

Web man sends me the edits and they are the wrong size so morph on the page doh.

It's a shame the other homemade vans have gone and tentman as I was quite getting into it...invading other peoples privacy

dopester

fc123 wrote: »

I will confess I am getting into pics in a big way and , having cracked photo bucket, am going to start taking a camera everywhere now and be really annoying.:o

It's only cos I have been trying to come to a webshop solution that I can do myself rather than pay £6 per edited pic.
Do you know how I can make the background transparent or plain white? No one will tell me except that I need £900 worth of photoshop software.

Web man sends me the edits and they are the wrong size so morph on the page doh.

It's a shame the other homemade vans have gone and tentman as I was quite getting into it...invading other peoples privacy

There is free software which is supposedly quite good - such as paintnet. I've got it an old version and use it occasionally. I'm sure removal of background can be done quite easily with that software once you learned how. Resizing is easy though - one of the basic functions. For simpler tasks it's just a matter of experimentation.

http://www.getpaint.net/

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.

As for removing backgrounds.. I've only done it in Photoshop.. and there are a few ways to do it. I usually rush mine as well, so it's never to a professional standard.

Whenever I need to be taught something with Photoshop I usually look on YouTube for a video how-to, or just a web how-to. Honestly, I'm pretty lame with it - just no teacher at all, sorry fc. I think it's probably best to learn your way around Photoshop above other similar packages.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=photoshop+remove+background&search_type=&aq=f

harryhound

houseboatdream wrote: »

PN
The address thing is really important. You need a proper UK address for the 'van to be registered at - DVLA don't accept a PO Box, also you need an address for insurance, there are a couple of coy's that insure fulltimers with no postcode of their own, but I've heard premium can be £1000+. Also you will need address for your post - what about your job offer letters!!!
Problem is not without solution - most people use a relative's address. i think I read on one of your other posts that you used's your mum's address or similar when you were between flats??

Home Bargains only seem to have got as far south as Milton Keynes?

I am aware of someone who registers vehicles at a fake address - just a mail box screwed to a fence - It really annoys me but the Old Bill don't seem to care - not paying speeding fines is a victim less crime?

I'm sure there must be a map somewhere of wi fi spots for travellers - can't always pop into "Witherspoons". and hunting for a Library can waste time and produce parking difficulties.

However well you try to insulate a small padded cell is a problem when hot sweaty breath is coming from lungs at 36+ C and outside it is minus something. Somewhere probably in cupboards things are going to get very damp = Regular airing and polly bags etc. etc.

Diesel engines cost more but are more reliable (no electric sparks to get damp) and give significantly better MPG, however they cost more to buy.

Not being able to stand up in van (or a tent) becomes very wearing long term.

Good luck

Fire_Fox

PasturesNew wrote: »

Access to electricity will be a pain. I can stay on sites with leccy, I can get a special lead for that from camping shops. This really means getting an awning/tent and having to put it up as you can't sit in the back of a van with the window open for the lead in all weathers.... I was looking at big 4-man Dome pop up tents last night. Cheap and small storage space required. Overall, though, buying electricity through a hookup pitch can be quite pricey, with many charging £2-3/night it's certainly more than I'd spend on electricity running a whole house.

This is where things fail in England: the bl00dy weather.

My parents have wild camped almost every night all the way around South America, to China and back and all over Europe when I was a kiddy. In recent years they have had a solar panel to give some leccy which is probably not an avenue you would want to go down! We have always had a leisure battery for the rest which charges as they drive, and that served four of us along with a some camping gaz. :cool:

"If you are very frugal with your use of electricity (only one or two lights and a rarely opened compressor fridge) you will use about 30AH (at 12 volts) per day. If you use your notebook computer, listen to music, charge your cell phone and run your diesel heating system all night you will use more than 70AH per day. Assuming an 80% charged 200AH battery that you do not want to discharge below 50% (and you don't want to do that more than you must) then you only have one or two days of battery capacity.

Of course if you are plugged into the mains 24 hours a day, then providing your battery charger can supply say 5 amps you don't have a problem. The same is true if you drive for say two hours a day. However if there is no mains supply and you are not moving then you have to rely on solar power, a generator or you will have to run your vehicle engine for a couple of hours each day."
http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/

Fire_Fox

"Nearly all campervans have two [sets of] rechargeable batteries. The battery used to start the engine is referred to as the vehicle battery, the one used to run the lights, water pump etc. in the cabin is referred to as the leisure battery. They are used very differently ...Other things being equal a big leisure battery (or more probably several batteries) is a good thing. But leisure batteries are very heavy and expensive (6). The minimum capacity for an overland campervan is probably 150AH (at 12 volts). Between 200 and 400AH (at 12 volts) is probably optimum. Anything more than 400AH (9) is hard to justify.

If you drive for six hours each day, and during the remaining 18 hours you make liberal use of the (compressor) fridge, lights, fans, laptop computer, phone charger, diesel heating system, electric kettle and microwave you will only use around 100AH (at 12 volts). A fully charged 400AH leisure battery will comfortably supply this and the next day's driving will replace the AHs used.

At the other extreme, if you are wild-camped and use gas instead of the electric kettle and the microwave you may use around 50AH per 24 hours. A 400AH battery, charged by your alternator will last you about two days. If you want to wild-camp for longer than this you will need: more battery capacity, solar power or a generator. Another 400AH battery will get you two more days of wild-camping. (After four days you may have to drive for quite a long time to replace 200AH you have used.)"
http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/

coupleuk

Hello PasturesNew

Hope you dont mind me offering some input.

1) You can easily get a seasonal (8 month) pitch on a good campsite for approx £75/week - that includes electric, water, pitch etc - even swimming pools, free showers and other facilities. You dont need to be on the voters roll and you dont need to pay council tax - nor TV licence for that matter as they will have trouble finding you. :rotfl:. My wife and I have been doing this for FOUR YEARS in the UK.

2) I think you are looking at your problem from the wrong way round - you are trying to find a lifestyle to fit a job, when you should be looking for a job to fit the lifestyle.

For instance, you may be looking for a £40k/year job and are struggling to find a way of living so you can get it.

Instead, why not calculate how much the "travellers" way of living will cost you and then find a job which covers your expenses - probably MUCH less than £40k so much easier to find.

You may find that your working stress levels are hugely reduced and you get to enjoy life.

3) Based on your stated skills, you could buy a motorhome and visit small independent sites. In exchange for a free weekly pitch and £199 you could design them a website (taking local photos etc). Then, you just move down the road and do the next one etc etc. £200/week may not seem much to you but at the moment you dont even have that (do you?). I think you would be amazed at how many campsites still dont have basic websites. You could still do some casual jobs from the van as you go.

For example, start a website XYZ.com and then add every campsite website you do to it (XYZ.com/devon/homefarm). Use the same format for every website so that visitors get used to seeing the layout and can navigate each one quickly. Set your home page up with a clickable map for uk counties and sites. You will soon have a useful resource which will self-promote itself - you can then show this to potential customers.

4) If the above doesnt work out, you could just get seasonal work (reception etc) at various sites and this would give you a free pitch and a small income. Useful to see if you like the lifestyle.

5) At the budget you have, any purchase you make will show very little depreciation over a 2 year period, so you aren't going to lose much if you later change your mind.

Don't give up on the idea, but be realistic and - sorry to be blunt - MAKE A DECISION !!

You missed a purchase in Solihull because you "couldn't get there", then stated you were thinking of spending £8k more to buy something locally :eek:. You could have easily booked the RAC to look at the van and got a HPI done online, even if you didnt want to travel up there.

So, why not alter your thinking a little and within the next 7 days, make a decision which you will stick to.

Good Luck !!!!